One of the more popular trends occurring worldwide is the switch to vegetarian based foods. While some people who make the switch aren’t 100% vegetarians, they are certainly more aware of the foods they are eating. If you would like to make the switch here is a list of the most commonly substituted vegetarian foods.

Animal Proteins

There are several vegetarian foods available to take the place of meat. Depending on what you want to replace, here are some suggestions.

Steak can be replaced with baked Portobello mushrooms. The taste very similar to streak with the same texture and juiciness.

Chicken can be replaced by tofu in a number of dishes especially if those dishes are stir fried.

TVP or textured vegetable protein comes in small dry checks and look like dried vegetables. Made of soy, they cook quickly supplying vegetable protein without the unnecessary fat. TVP is mainly used to replace meats in stews and soups. It’s widely available in supermarkets and natural food stores.

Eggplants can be prepared by stuffing, roasting, grilled or fried (NO FRIED FOODS) and can replace meat with relative ease.

Mmm… Beans

Soybeans provide the perfect building blocks you need to build muscle by eating several difference vegetable proteins together. The combinations include rice and beans or yogurt and chopped nuts.

Some of the best nonmeat sources of protein are legumes (dried peas and beans), nuts, and seeds. Be careful with the nuts and seeds as they add fat. Here are few nonmeat sources that provide the same amount of protein in an ounce of animal protein.

¼ cup of sunflower or pumpkin seeds

1/3 cup of pecan, peanuts, almonds or any other nuts

½ cup of cooked dry beans

½ cup of baked beans

½ cup of tofu

Cheeses

If going vegan is your thing you’re going to want to avoid dairy products. This means replacing cheeses. There are a variety of vegan cheeses available in your supermarket that taste like cheddar, mozzarella and Monterey jack. Crumbled tofu is a good substitute for cottage cheese and ricotta cheese. Tofu cream cheese is available to replace regular cream cheese

Any of the cheeses above can be used when you need to melt cheese like on pizzas and in sauces.

Cow’s Milk

Soy milk easily replaces cow’s milk. It’s created by soaking and cleaning soy beans overnight, pureeing them, straining the solids out and then the liquid is boiled for 10 minutes. I’m sure you have seen soy milk sitting next to the cow’s milk at the supermarket.

· Some of the benefits of soy milk are

· More protein and fiber than cow’s milk

· It has isoflavones which are thought to prevent cancers, heart disease and osteoporosis.

The downside to soy is that it doesn’t contain any calcium. You’ll need to get it from somewhere else. That’s easy if you grab some almonds or green leafy vegetables.

Chocolate Milk

It’s been well documented that there are benefits to eating dark chocolate. Dark chocolate contains flavonols which may help protect you from cancer. However, milk chocolate doesn’t have the same benefit because milk proteins bind to those flavonols making them unavailable. Cocoa is naturally bitter (ever tasted cocoa powder?) so sugar or high fructose corn syrup is added to milk chocolate to sweeten it.

An alternative to milk chocolate is the caffeine-free substitute known as Carob. Carob comes from the fruit of carob trees. Carob trees are generally found in the Middle East and Mediterranean. The powder format is what is generally used as the substitute and its high in fiber. Be careful though as Carob contains just as many calories as chocolate.

Replacing Mayonnaise

A lot of people like to load mayonnaise on their sandwiches. What they don’t realize is mayonnaise is basically pure fat. Keep in mind that it’s not all bad fat but it’s still around 50 calories per tablespoon. Those calories will add up quick! A quick and easy way to replace egg based mayonnaise is to replace it with tofu mayonnaise. If you Google “tofu mayonnaise recipe” there are really good varieties out there that you can try but my favorite are any that are made with garlic and Dijon mustard.

No more eggs

This one is easy. There are a number of egg substitutes out there. Some of them even have veggies mixed into them. The hardest part about getting rid of eggs is they are used in baking a lot of recipes. Again, Google “replacing eggs in baking” and you’ll find some good alternatives. Again, this one is tough.

Replace sour cream

Like mayonnaise, sour cream is packed full of fats. However, sour cream is mostly bad, saturated fats. Replacing it with a tofu based recipe is the answer here if you’re vegan because vegetarians will simply add some yogurt. Google “tofu sour cream” for some really good recipes. Tofu sour cream usually has some lemon juice and vinegar to give it the “sour” taste.

Non-Dairy Ice Cream

Non-dairy ice creams have been around for a long time. You’ll probably notice a few them: gelato (ooh, so good!), sorbet and fudgesicles. There are some soy based ice creams that are tasty as well. You can even make your own. Paletas are an awesome way to not only cool down but get your fresh fruits and veggies as well. Make sure you substitute the cow’s milk with soy milk!

Replacing your everyday foods with vegetarian choices is very easy and simple to do. It will take some adjusting and learning but if you’re truly dedicated to becoming a vegetarian then this should get you started!

We all know we should cut down on food with high calories if we want to lose weight. To do this we need to know what these foods are. While some foods can easily be recognised as having high calories, others may not be so obvious. There are the obvious foods like ice cream, cakes, cream buns, cookies, fries and others. We all know we should stay away from these foods or have them only occasionally. But it is the day-to-day food we eat that can be the problem.

There are foods we think are healthy and all right to eat but can be high in calories, which are working against our efforts to lose weight. The trouble is it can be quite an effort to change suddenly from these foods if they form an important part of our diet, but we can do it gradually.

Here are some common foods that we can replace with low-calorie versions or limit the amount we have.

Butter – there are some versions with lower fat but margarine has less fat

Meat – lean beef, buffalo, lamb, chicken and turkey without the skin

Fish – low in calories and has essential oils – tartar sauce and mayonnaise will increase the calories

Nuts – most nuts are healthy but can be high in calories. Eat small quantities or replace them with fresh fruit

Pasta – stay away from the white cream sauces

Salad dressings and mayonnaise – choose low-fat versions

Fruit and vegetables – most fruit and vegetables are low in calories. Replace white potatoes with sweet potatoes. Bananas are high in calories, but have other important elements

Bread – not low in calories so we need to be careful what we put on it

From what I can see, it is hard to find low-calorie bread unless you make it yourself, which is not practical for most of us. If you check the calories on bread in the supermarket, some breads are lower than others but you have to wonder if that is because the slices are thinner. The best we can do is to cut down on bread and to avoid loading it up with lashings of butter and spreads. Bread is such a staple it is very hard to give it up entirely.

There is a lot more food with low calories available now, as so many people are watching their weight or their health. Many foods, like most fruit and vegetables, are naturally low in calories, so it is a good idea to choose these when you can. One of the problems is our tendency to use rich sauces for dishes like pasta and seafood. While the food itself is low-calorie and healthy the sauces increase the calories count significantly.

With a little bit of thought it is not too hard to gradually change to food with low calories. The main thing is to be aware of what we are eating and where possible, choose the low-calorie, low-fat alternatives. This is one of the best ways to lose weight and one of the best ways to be healthy.

In the battle against flab, one tool that will come very handy is a List of Foods with Highest Empty Calories. Empty calories not only induce unnecessary weight gain in the body, they lead to a host of other problems and disease that if untreated could lead to life threatening afflictions. We can avoid the harm done by empty calories by steering clear of foods that contain them, or limiting the consumption of such foods.

The best way to avoid these foods with empty calories is to adopt healthier eating habits which would not only help you to reduce fat and lower cholesterol, but they will also provide you with the nutrients that your body needs for energy and to fight sickness and ageing. You can begin to replace these foods with empty calories by keeping their consumption very low and replacing them with healthier options such as fresh fruits, whole grains, fresh vegetables, and lighter oil like olive oil.

Keep this List of Foods with Highest Empty Calories in mind while planning your meals. If you plan your meals ahead of mealtime you are less like to binge on foods that are forbidden as foods with highest empty calories. Just remember more refined the food, higher would be the calories. These would be quickly absorbed by the body and converted into fat.